


Nothing to Fix

by argylemikewheeler



Series: Tumblr Re-posts [38]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Background Byeler, Coming Out, Gen, Outing, Protective Siblings, implied conversion therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 08:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18232265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/argylemikewheeler/pseuds/argylemikewheeler
Summary: Prompt: Mike's mom finds out about the whole thing with Will and Mike and then she's just acting kinda stiff with him and then they talk and she's like "we still love you, even if you're messed up. don't worry, we can fix you" and then Mike (or even better, Nancy) goes off on her and is like "fuck you, I'm perfectly fine."





	Nothing to Fix

Mike had been hiding every trace of the Upside Down from his parents. Will coming back from the dead? A pleasant surprise! The girl suddenly in his basement? The Russians! Mike suddenly having a grasp on inter-dimensional physics? An A+ student! His mother would undoubtedly commit him– and everyone in the Byers family– if she overheard the Party’s conversations or saw anything out of the ordinary. Mike thought he was going a pretty damn good job, until his mother started loitering around his bedroom when he was sitting on his bed, Super Comm in hand. She hovered around Mike everywhere in the house, and even stood by the window and watched him bike to school. Either she was going through a whole new level of “ _my boy is growing up!_ ” or she had overheard Mike talking to Will about his latest resurfacing of nightmares. The day he saw his mother standing at the window waiting for him to come home from school, Mike knew he’d have to play completely ignorant or end up in a loony bin.

“Hey, Mom.” Mike said, trying to pass off the force interaction her figure by the door was trying stir.

“Hi, Michael.” She spoke softly, loitering by the door as he passed her, going to the kitchen. “H-How was school, honey?”

“Good.” Mike said. “Will was talking to me about his ideas for the science fair.” It wasn’t a complete lie, but it did also give context to some of the possible words being tossed between them over the Super Comm the night prior.

“Huh.” She seemed to coward from the discussion but followed him into the kitchen. She stood by the archway, blocking him in with her stiff posture and tense expression. “How is Will?”

“Great!” Mike couldn’t help but smile. He thought of the hand gripping his under the table at lunch, the shy peck on the cheek he had gotten behind the school before biking off, the way Will made every part of him feel warm and glowing. “Will’s really great. The best.” He really was.

“Jennifer’s mom called me the the other day.” Mike’s mother took a step towards the cabinets, taking a stemmed glass and placing it on the counter in front of her. The wine rested, not very well hidden, in the corner of the counter. The cork was out and spilling its blood into the glass as she held onto the rest of her sentence. “She’s very concerned about Will.”

“Jennifer? Jennifer Hayes?” Mike echoed. Besides crying at Will’s funeral, she wasn’t even a blip in their lives. She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared, sniffles and all. “What the hell has she got to do with it?” He waited for his mother to scold him for his language. Her response was another long glance at the wine glass, a sip removing some of her lipstick but staining them the same color red just the same. “Mom?”

“She says Will’s a homosexual.”

“Oh.”  _Oh, no_.

“And… And she says that she’s seen you two at parent pick-up, Michael.” The wine glass shook in her hand. Mike had been so focused on hiding the government secrets from his parents to protect them, he forgot about the secrets he should have been hiding to protect himself. “Michael, you can talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Mike said quickly, dropping his bag on the dining table and getting ready to take off. He remembered where he left his Super Comm in his room, where he left his heavy coat in the basement; he could run away in a second. No one could find him. Eleven had enough space on her floor in Hop’s house. He could disappear.

“Michael, it’s okay.” Her footsteps were measured, joining him at the dining table. She sat down beside his backpack and motioned for him to join her. The tears welling in her eyes convinced him to stay rather than go off running. “I just want to talk.”

“Okay.” Mike said, folding his hands in his lap. “About what? About Will?”

“No… Not entirely.” She spun the glass between her fingers. “Your father and I still love you, Michael. We know that this isn’t you.”

“What does that mean?” Mike asked, feet planted firmly on the ground. He could hear the accusation rising in her voice. The front door opened and Nancy came in, although she didn’t even bother to stop in the kitchen and went straight for the stairs.

“Martha– _Mrs. Hayes_ – was telling me about the homosexuals. They are a tricky group. I know that you aren’t like them. You were just…  _coerced_ into this kind of life.” She said. She touched his hand lightly, more afraid to touch him than she had been before.

“What are you talking about?” Mike said, yanking his hand away. “Are you blaming Will? For what exactly?”

“It’s okay, Michael. You are allowed to be upset. I would be too. But it’s okay. We can fix you, honey. We can fix you.”

Mike regretted even the tiniest bit of secrecy he had put on himself and Will. Secrecy told his mother that he was ashamed, that he was somehow afraid of being seen with Will. Granted, getting his head flushed in a toilet was unbearable, but that was nothing compared to the thought of being rearranged and tortured, in a way he was sure Eleven could tell him, to make him more like his parents than himself. Mike didn’t regret for a moment the times he had grabbed Will’s hand, kissed him (badly), learned how to hold him in a close embrace that made his nightmares dissipate. Mike didn’t regret loving Will. And he didn’t regret not realizing it until then.

“I didn’t break anything.” Mike said flatly, standing from his chair. “I’m fine.”

“Michael, baby, it’s okay. I know a doctor in Chicago. I’ve already called him and he can come to the house if you don’t want to miss school. He can help you.”

“Help Mike with what?” Nancy had reappeared, standing with a dirty tea mug in her hand. She rummaged through the cabinets with her one free hand. “Mike finally failing chemistry?”

“No, Nancy. It’s… It’s nothing that concerns you.” Her mother didn’t want to dismiss Nancy, but it seemed like admitting the truth again was going to wipe her out completely.

“What?” She said, laughing. “Is he that bad?”

“We have to send your brother to a doctor.” She emptied her wine glass. “Joyce won’t help her son, but we’re going to fix Michael.”

“Fix?” Nancy echoed, placing the mug in the sink and marching over to her mother empty handed. Mike was stuck in the cross-fires of the regurgitation of truth. Nancy was a blur as his eyes unfocused and tears welled in them. “Is this about Will?” She asked her mother but quickly whipped her head to find the truth crumpling Mike’s face into sobs. “There’s nothing to fucking fix, Mom.” Nancy said sharply, grabbing Mike by the shoulders. “Mike’s fine.”

“Nancy, you don’t understand, there is hope. It’s not like before, it’s civilized now.”

“There’s nothing civilized about trying to change Mike into anything he’s not.” Nancy began leading Mike away from their mother, grabbing his bag and making him put it on. “Fuck you.”

“Nancy!”

“There’s nothing wrong with Mike. Except for maybe that he’s  _your_ son.” Nancy spat her words at their mother. She pushed him towards the stairs, Mike stumbling on the steps, but eventually ending up in Nancy’s room. Their mother called after them desperately, but Nancy refused to let Mike turn around.

Mike had never really been in Nancy’s room with her permission. He blinked at the soft colors and tried to regain his tough composure.

“It’s okay, Mike.”

“She thinks Will did this to me.” Mike muttered, wiping his tears with the sleeve of his shirt.

“She’s an idiot, Mike. Her and dad just don’t get it. There’s nothing– and I mean,  _nothing_ – wrong with you. Do you understand me?”

“Nancy–”

“Do you understand me?” She repeated, crouching in front of him. She took his hands and squeezed them gently, her touch unafraid. “This is going to be an uphill battle to get their heads out of their asses, but you have to promise me you aren’t going to think, not even for a second, that they are right. You are…  _whatever you are_  and that’s perfect. Don’t let them change you.”

“Okay.” Mike nodded and swallowed the shame curling in his throat. “I’m not broken.” Nancy smiled and cupped his face, squeezing his cheeks. “There’s nothing to fucking fix.”

“Exactly.” Nancy grinned and stood again. She walked to the phone resting on her nightstand. “Do you want to call Will? Or I can talk to Mrs. Byers for you, tell her what’s going on.”

“No.” Mike couldn’t imagine Will’s face, his bright eyes dimming as he wept, afraid to ask Mike for comfort. He loved Will. Love wasn’t supposed to hurt anyone. “I’ll be okay. I’ve got you.”

**Author's Note:**

> [The Rebloggable Post!](https://argylemikewheeler.tumblr.com/post/170510817340/where-is-the-story-where-mikes-mom-finds-out)


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